Lunar Love Letter 🌒 - Feb 27 2023

estimated reading time: 7 minutes

Today's Highlights:
Important Dates
Journal Prompts
Yoga Off the Mat
Energy Worthy Investment
Real Life Share

Important dates this cycle (in EST): 

Lunar Cycle Duration: 2/20-3/20
New Moon: 2/20
First Quarter (1Q) Moon: 2/27← we are here
Full Moon: 3/7 Worm Moon*
Last Quarter (3Q) Moon: 3/14
Spring Equinox: 3/20

Happy good day to your beautiful heart 💜 

Our last lunar love letter was an invitation to reflect on the last cycle and think about some intentions for this one. How did that go for you? What came up? Did anything feel particularly easy or hard?

Personally, I experienced intense energy around the new moon 🌑. I had a lot of emotions surface simultaneously, and apparently that’s what my body, mind, and spirit needed – to let them bubble up 🌋 and over and out . It was a rough process and not very pretty – but even though growth isn’t all fairy wings and glitter, it’s still fucking beautiful, and I’m grateful to be able to experience it. 

We’re now halfway between that new moon and the full Worm Moon*, and this part of the lunar cycle is about purposefully planting seeds 🌱 and expanding – immersing ourselves in the process of growing. 

Let this phase be a time to solidify the intentions you’ve set by taking realistic actionable steps forward with a bigger sense of vision – one where your logic blends with your spiritual and emotional pursuits. 

That can feel like a big ask, and we’re not here to task ourselves into oblivion, so think small and manageable. The moon doesn’t shift from one phase to another in a day, and neither do we, so let’s keep the emphasis on letting the process unfold – one small step at a time. Here are some journal prompts 📓 to help get the juices flowing:

• What is realistically within your capacity right now? 

• What is a small step you are willing to take?

• What resource do you already have that you can lean into?

• What idea keeps coming up regardless of how many times you dismiss it?

Writing is 🪄 magic. So I invite you to explore these and plant those meaningful seeds so you can allow your intentions to organically bloom with confidence, courage, and authority to take up more space. You are worthy 🤗.

Good tidings and well wishes for this lovely 1Q moon 🌒

Yoga Off the Mat

On the mat, I love building postures from the ground up. Whatever part that’s touching the ground is the foundation that you grow the rest of the posture from 🌱 – think of it as pressing into the earth to find the support you need to stabilize (that’s what you’re literally doing!).

With practice, this solidifies the connection between you and your roots, creating a deep inner knowing that you are able to support yourself. Your foundation keeps you stable while the rest of your body is more freely moving and expressing, just like a tree with strong roots 🌳 is able to bend and sway regardless of weather.

I invite you to incorporate this same perspective off the mat. Allow your roots to anchor ⚓ you so that the rest of you can practice exploring, discovering, and expanding.

Your roots are whatever’s familiar, secure, and healthy for you. A space that makes you feel courageous. A favorite outfit that helps you feel confident. An ability or skill you have. People who surround you with support. Whatever fills you with more aliveness ⭐.
 
Experiment with how this can manifest in your life, and let me know how it goes .

Energy Worthy Investment

The Big. Scary. Unplug. 🔌 (just not so big and scary)

Try not to cringe!

We’re super unaccustomed to going anywhere or doing anything without being tethered to some electronic device. But there is medicine in the unplug and spending some time outside 🌄.

As much as I love nature, hiking, and just sitting gazing at trees, I don’t make as much time for it as I’d like. However, given the big emotions that bubbled up for me (see the beginning of this message), I KNEW I needed it for balance and grounding. 

So I went on a hike. Just me, the animals, wind rustling 🍃, and the crunch of my feet in the leaves on the ground. And it revived my wilted spirit.

The full scoop is that I did take my phone with me (safety), but I just didn’t use it 📵. And that was enough. I didn’t take pictures, I didn’t check messages, I didn’t listen to music or a podcast. I let the experience wash over the whole of my being. I let my mind wander and notice and get curious. And it was true medicine.

So the unplug doesn’t need to be some gargantuan deal, but the payoff is HUGE. Consider this permission to take the less scary route. Bring your phone, but keep it silent and in your pocket. Proceed to soak up vitamin nature 🌳. 

Drop me a line 💌 and let me know about your adventure!

Real Life Share

Lately I’ve been trying to heed my intuitive voice 💭 more often. 

And it’s hard AF.

Some of the challenging emotions coming up for me are connected to past moments where my intuition was trying (very hard) to be heard, but I chose to ignore it. I’ve gotten really down on myself because I can see so clearly now what was really happening in those moments. And I should have listened to myself. Then I typically layer on the guilt and shame with the “should-ing”, and that’s a fast moving spiral 😵‍💫 to get caught in.

But.

Friends don’t let friends “should” themselves. 

I’m my own friend (!!), so when I catch it, I’m practicing pausing and breathing so I can give that past version of myself some compassion and acceptance 🫶. I didn’t know then what I know now. You can’t know until you know. So all those lessons were the bricks on the road for me to be right where I am in this moment, writing this sentence, so that maybe one of your soft hearts can relate and see that we’re all just doing this human thing one step at a time 🤗. 

AND.

Here’s the cool thing: Because of all of these instances I can see in hindsight where I could have listened and that my intuitive voice was right, I am getting a better handle on how strong 💪 my intuition actually is. But even more importantly, that I can trust it. 

Even if I can’t rationalize it. Even if it seems out of character for me. I'm doing it anyway 💫. 

If this is something you’re working on too, do you have any tips or best practices? Send me a message 💌 to share.

*The moon names and phase details given here are as given on the Farmers' Almanac website. There are many other moon names and stories from other cultures that are not included here, but I encourage you to do your own research. It’s fascinating!

**Any physical practice mentioned in this email should be done in an environment that is conducive to safety. You know your body best. Only do what feels right for you based on your unique situation. Please consult an appropriately credentialed medical provider before starting any new regimen.

All resources mentioned in this newsletter are included for research purposes only and are not affiliated with Zenful Mindings LLC.